DANCING NEBULA

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Fighting for our lives: why we need a revolution

Fighting for our lives: why we need a revolution

We need a revolution because this system is not a system for the people; because even those who are on the favored side are not able to find true fulfillment.

By Talita Soares

We need a revolution.

Not only because we don’t have enough jobs, not only because the public health system is no longer functional. Not only because our politicians are corrupt or because our teachers are not getting paid.

We need a revolution because every single day, every single hour, maybe, a perharps higly-paid, higly-respected office worker blows his brains out with a pistol gun. We need a revolution because of all the rich spoiled teenagers who are right now looking out of their bedroom windows wondering what the hell is the point of it all.

We need a revolution because this system is not a system where people can live the way they are meant to live; because even those who are on the favored side of it are not able to find true fulfillment — this is not a system created by or for the people, but a system created by the untamed power of money alone.

When money loses its human quality, when it no longer serves the people but rather the other way around, we are no longer living in a human reality, but in a distorted one; one that our souls do not recognise and do not know how to cope with.

We need a revolution in order to bring reality back to a level where love and compassion — forces that are naturally inherent to every human being — can regain their original power. In the times we live in, every time a human being speaks from the heart, he or she is making a political statement.

In an interview about the time he spent at the acampada on Plaza Catalunya in Spain, Eduardo Galeano said that the revolutionary quality of the youth riots in Europe came from the enthusiasm they were able to make emerge. Enthusiasm — there is something that mega-corporations will never have any control over.

To hold this enthusiasm through concrete debating and building of new societal structures is what can ultimately be defined as a revolution. When we protest, may it not be the voice of frustration and anger to make our throats vibrate, but the voice of sharp awareness of the pain of the world and the steps we need to take towards its healing — we need to be lucid in our passion, and passionate in our lucidity.

In today’s society, it is safe to say that the feeling of not fitting in has become as universal as human nature itself. There are as many outsiders in this world as there are people, all circling around one empty imaginary “inside”, an absurd fabrication of corporate consumerism.

We are all black sheep trapped in the illusion that everyone else is a white sheep. The new society will be built by no one else but those who simply dare to speak the truth. That is all it takes. Through that we can break out of the imaginary separation we live in. And may it be said again: That is all it takes.

And what’s more, it is also a very good strategy. The system knows how to deal with explosive riots in the streets, terrorist attacks and bank robbings — it is all a part of its dynamics, and it can very easily be turned into marketable, mind-numbing entertainment for the masses.

However, there are moments that retain a certain special quality — a quality that shall be called irreproducibility — that are capable of creating something that is truly unprecedented. Let’s call it something human. This is where we should start working from. Resistance begins in everything that is not appropriate for mass-production — in all authentic, personal experiences.

There are cracks in the system through which light can shine in. Together they form the infinite starry sky. Through connecting those shiny spots, you can form constellations. A group of tiny points of light can be combined to form the picture of a huge mighty lion. Together, they can make one see clearly even in the darkest night.

Every racing heart is a pulsing star! And every time someone looks at the sky with an open heart, a revolutionary is born. It is where it all begins. From the French Revolution to the barricades, a beautiful sky is needed to remind us of where we come from — and where we are going.

Ultimately, that is what brings us to the streets. That is what we are fighting for. A new society is needed in order to give the stars the place that they deserve inside our souls.